Good News Stories

Good News

Friends of the Earth acknowledges the need to celebrate positive shifts and successes towards a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. We also understand that campaign victories are almost always the result of alliances between different groups and the broader community. In this section we attempt to collate and share some of the inspirational stories that have risen out of local communities, within Australia and from around the world.

Please follow the links to our annual reports section to discover a comprehensive breakdown of positive stories from our work.

Have you always wondered who our own home grown hero’s are: Follow the link to ‘Inspirational Profiles’ section to discover who they are and what they have achieved in their community.

For comprehensive good news coverage from around the world via our partners and friends on our international work, see 'Voices of the Earth', our monthly publication (also available via email newsletter) produced in Amsterdam.

Our Successes include:

Friends of the Earth (FoE) has played a key role in the following successful campaigns:

an end to whaling in Australian waters

the protection of Antarctica

the introduction of lead free petrol in Australia

protection of Fraser Islands sub-tropical forests

the halting of the Jabiluka uranium mine

stopping the establishment of a high level radioactive waste dump in Australia

stopping the establishment of a low and medium level radioactive waste dump in South Australia

the introduction of independent timber certification systems in Australia

the creation of a new national park system along the Murray River of almost 100,000 hectares and the first jointly managed national park in Victoria.

We have been insturmental in pushing the environmental debate, often campaigning on issues long before they became mainstream. This includes:

VICTORIA, 15 JUNE 2016: A renewable energy boom is on the horizon for Victoria as the Andrews government today announces state Renewable Energy Targets (VRET). The long-awaited announcement comes after a two-and-a-half year community campaign to grow renewables.

"The Andrews government's announcement of Victorian Renewable Energy Targets is a big win for communities who want a pathway to 100 percent," said Leigh Ewbank, Friends of the Earth spokesperson.

APRIL 18, 2016: Responding to the breaking news that the State Government of Queensland in Australia has just implemented an immediate ban on all underground coal gasification in that State, Chloe Aldenhoven, Coal and Gas Spokesperson for Friends of the Earth (FoE) Australia said:

ABOVE: Working with the Mirra traditional owners and other environmental groups, FoE played a key role in the successful community campaign to stop the Jabiluka uranium mine in the mid 1990s. There were regular pickets outside the offices of companies involved in the mine proposal. This one was in Melbourne.

According to legend passed down through generations of activists, the FoE Australia network was created at a gathering of local FoE groups on French Island, in Western Port Bay in Victoria, in early 1974.